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If the webcam photos that I found this afternoon are any indication, it may be that people in Mexico (or at least many of them) are finally taking the coronavirus pandemic seriously.

Here is the city's main plaza, the Zócalo, this afternoon, a place that is always bustling with activity... 

A fence appears to have been put up closing off the plaza.  But there are only a few people anywhere in the picture and hardly any traffic.


Here is the Plaza de la República in front of the Monument to the Mexican Revolution.

Normally on a warm, sunny, Saturday afternoon, there would be loads of people here, with children frolicking in the fountains built into the pavement of the square.  The fountains are off, and there are only a handful of people.

This intersection by the Palace of Fine Arts is usually one of the busiest in downtown Mexico City.  Normally when traffic is stopped for a red light, there would be a crush of pedestrians crossing at the crosswalk.

Even from the heights of the Latin American Tower you can make out the throngs of people strolling along pedestrianized Madero Street.  It is especially crowded on weekends.  At 6:00 P.M. today the street was eerily empty.

Today begins the Holy Week vacation time when many Mexico City families flock to the beach resorts.  So, have they all fled to the coast?  

No Holy Week crowds in Cancún

Xcaret on the Rivera Maya is devoid of vacationers.

In Playa del Carmen, Quinta Avenida (5th Avenue), a pedestrianized street lined with shops, restaurants and bars, is the center of tourist activity.  Today the businesses are shuttered, and there are only a handful of people to be seen.

The colonial town of San Miguel de Allende is famous for its Holy Week observances, and is another popular destination for Mexican vacationers.  Those events have all been cancelled.  In this view of the town square there is only one lonely person to be seen.

Obviously Mexico's important tourism industry is taking a severe blow... as is tourism throughout the world.  But if it takes a few months of isolation to bring the coronavirus under control, so be it.